Tag: Louisiana State Police

Charles Ross convicted of first-degree murder for killing his ex-girlfriend in Metairie

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Nov. 2) found Charles Ross guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend in her Metairie apartment while her special needs daughter watched.

Ross, 45, robbed a man of his pickup truck in Baton Rouge and drove to the 100 block of Houma Boulevard, where at about 3 a.m., on June 3, 2021, he kicked open Nygia Lambert’s apartment door and shot her eight times as she hid under her bed pleading for her life.

Lambert’s 24-year-old daughter locked herself in the bathroom and called 911, telling the operator, “Mr. Ross killed my mom.” Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found Lambert’s lifeless, naked body. She was 47, the mother of five daughters and the grandmother of one child.

For that, he was convicted as charged of first-degree murder. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty, meaning life in prison is the mandatory punishment. Jurors also found Ross guilty of attempted obstruction of justice, for fleeing with the murder weapon.

A convicted felon who served time in prison for beating a previous girlfriend and was legally barred from possessing firearms, Ross armed himself with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and carjacked a man in Baton Rouge. He succeeded in eluding police officers who pursued him.

In testimony Thursday, Ross told jurors that upon learning Lambert ended their relationship, he went on a cocaine binge. From the witness stand, he openly admitted he killed Lambert. His attorneys asked jurors to consider convicting him of manslaughter, a lesser homicide that carries a punishment of up to 40 years in prison and involves a killing “committed in sudden passion or heat of blood immediately caused by provocation sufficient to deprive an average person of his self-control and cool reflection.”

However, the state argued that Ross’ actions bely that of manslaughter. His text messages show that a full 12 hours before he killed Lambert, Ross told another woman that, “I’m going to f— this girl up.”

When Louisiana State Police arrested Ross in Baton Rouge, he was in possession of the murder weapon and the keys to the pickup truck he stole.

The jury that was selected on Tuesday deliberated about 1 ½ hours Thursday before returning with its verdicts. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Ross on Nov. 13.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blaine Moncrief prosecuted the case.

Wendell Lachney pleads guilty to killing 9-year-old girl in drunk driving crash

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (Sept. 20) sentenced Wendell Lachney to 30 years in prison, after the defendant admitted that he was highly intoxicated when he crashed his car into a minivan at high speed on a West Bank highway, causing the death of a 9-year-old girl and injuring her mother.

Lachney, 58, of Belle Chasse, pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular negligent injury and other offenses in the Oct. 22, 2021, wreck on Belle Chasse Highway near its intersection with Lapalco Boulevard.

At the time that his blood was drawn more than 2 ½ hours after the crash, Lachney’s blood-alcohol content was .22 percent, more than double the .08 percent legal limit to drive under Louisiana law. Lachney was driving upwards of 60 mph when he drove into the rear of the minivan.

Lachney, who already had two prior DWI convictions, had been drinking whiskey and smoking marijuana hours before he drove into the minivan. In his car, Louisiana State Police troopers found an opened bottle of whiskey, wine, a cup of beer, marijuana and a pipe he used to smoke the marijuana.

Before announcing the sentence Tuesday, Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court heard impact testimony from five family members, including the child’s parents. Her mother recalled being stopped at a red light when she saw Lachney closing in from behind and then slam into her minivan.

“I watched strangers performing CPR on my 9-year-old on the cold cement road,” she testified. “I fell to my knees as I grabbed a man by his legs and begged him to save my daughter. I screamed to God and to the helpers to kill me instead. Take me, so my daughter can live. I prayed. I begged. I bartered with my soul. Did you hear my screams that night, Wendell?”

Said her father: “I miss our jam sessions in the car and our trips to get coffee. I miss holding you in my arms when you need someone to be strong for you. I am so sad that I will never get to walk you down the aisle or see what an amazing parent you would have been.  Your mom, your brothers and I miss you dearly, and life will never be the same without you here.  We love you to the moon and back.”

Following the crash, Lachney was booked and then released from jail on bond. He then entered an inpatient substance abuse program in St. Tammany Parish. Following the child’s death two days after the crash, Louisiana State Police arrested him there after obtaining an arrest warrant. Lachney’s bond was then set at $1 million.

He also pleaded guilty to reckless operation of a motor vehicle, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of an open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle and for not wearing a seatbelt.

Judge Grefer sentenced Lachney to 30 years in prison for vehicular homicide and five years suspended for first-degree vehicular negligent injury, to be served on home incarceration after he’s released from prison. The vehicular homicide charge was designated as a crime of violence.

Additionally, Judge Grefer sentenced Lachney to 90 days for reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and 15 days for possession of drug paraphernalia. He ran the sentences concurrent.

Assistant District Attorneys Brittany Beckner and Matthew Whitworth prosecuted the case.

Antonio Key guilty of planning, participating in Metairie aggravated burglary

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday night (April 27) found Antonio Key guilty of planning and participating in an aggravated burglary of a Metairie home in which a 67-year-old woman was severely beaten.

Key, 25, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of aggravated burglary with a firearm enhancement for his role in the April 30, 2019, crime in the 4600 block of Southshore Drive.

Key had been inside the home previously because of his job with an air conditioning company. As such, he was familiar with its complex floor plan. Key used his mobile phone to take photographs, including jewelry, and he began planning to return to commit the burglary.

Just before midnight on the night of the crime, Key and his cohorts, Rodgers Hart and Darius Daleo, arrived after traveling from the West Bank in a car that Key borrowed. Key and Hart, who wore masks, broke in through a back door while Daleo remained with the car. The residents, a 67-year-old woman and her 38-year-old daughter, were in their bedrooms when the men broke in. The daughter triggered the panic alarm.

The two men went upstairs and confronted the daughter. The mother, meanwhile, confronted the burglars, both of whom beat her. The burglars eventually fled, and the victims barricaded themselves in a bedroom until Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, according to trial evidence.

A Louisiana State Police trooper spotted the suspects’ car on North Causeway Boulevard near Interstate 10 and attempted a traffic stop. The burglars led the trooper on a pursuit that ended near North Turnbull Drive and Johnson Street, where the driver lost control of the car and wrecked it. The three men fled on foot.

Daleo was the first to be caught. His arrest led to that of Hart, who got away that night by stealing a pizza deliverer’s car. Through their investigation, detectives identified Key as the third burglar. They arrested him days later, as he arrived at his job with the air conditioning company.

The Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensics Unit obtained incriminating evidence from cellular devices, including text messages and images that showed Key’s planning for the crime. And although Key denied involvement, his cell phone showed he was at the Southshore location when the crime unfolded, as well as in the vicinity of the wreck at North Turnbull and Johnson.

In testimony Wednesday, Key played up his service in the Marine Corps and asserted that he only had the idea of burglarizing the victims’ home. On the night of the crime, he only planned to drive to Southshore but had no intention of following through with it. He testified that he remained in the car while Daleo and Hart entered the home – an assertion directly contradicted by other evidence.

Daleo, 24, of Marrero, said he was the driver and asserted that it was Key who entered the home with Hart. Daleo pleaded guilty on Nov. 3, 2021, to aggravated burglary and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Hart, 26, of Marrero, pleaded guilty on Dec. 15, 2021, to the aggravated burglary, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 18 years for the burglary, 10 years for the firearm offense and six months for the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The sentences were run concurrently, for a total of 18 years.

The jury in Key’s trial deliberated just over two hours before returning with its unanimous verdict. Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Key on May 17.

Assistant District Attorneys Thomas Sanderson and Zachary Grate prosecuted the case.

 

Todd Williams gets 21 years for killing 3 Good Samaritans in DWI crash

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Dec. 9) sentenced Todd Williams to a total of 21 years in prison for killing three Good Samaritans and injuring two others while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Williams, 40, of New Orleans, pleaded guily as charged guilty to three felony counts of vehicular homicide for the deaths of the Rev. Claude Luther Williams, Jr., 40, of Gretna; his friend Williams J. Leinart, 49, of Gretna; and Joseph Chopin, 66, of Marrero.

About 10:30 p.m., on June 16, a motorist was traveling east on the elevated Westbank Expressway near MacArthur Boulevard when one of the tires of her 2017 Hyundai Accent blew out. That caused her car to strike the concrete rail and come to a rest facing oncoming traffic in the left and center lanes, according to Louisiana State Police.

The Rev. Williams and his passenger Leinart stopped to assist the motorist, as did Chopin, who was driving separately. The three men and passengers from the Hyundai stood outside their vehicles.

Todd Williams, driving a 2015 Chevrolet Impala in the left lane, struck the Hyundai, which in turn struck another vehicle and pedestrians. Claude Williams, who was on the phone with a 911 operator when the crash occurred, Leinart and Chopin were thrown over the side and fell 30 feet to their deaths. Other motorists were injured.

Williams blood-alcohol content was .11 percent, above the .08-percent legal limit to drive.

On Monday, after hearing a letter of forgiveness written by the Rev. Williams’ wife and read aloud by a prosecutor, and hearing Todd Williams express sorrow and remorse, Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced the defendant to seven years in prison for each count of vehicular homicide. Judge Miller ran the sentences consecutively, for a total of 21 years.

Todd Williams also pleaded guilty as charged to two misdemeanor counts of vehicular negligent inuring, for which he received two six-month sentences. Judge Miller ran those sentences concurrent to the 21-year sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Vanderhooft prosecuted the case.

Rushton, Schiffman receive ‘excellence’ award for double-murder prosecution

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman were among the recipients of the Metropolitan Crime Commission’s Excellence in Law Enforcement Awards. Members of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Kenner Police Department also received the award.

 

The Metropolitan Crime Commission on Tuesday (Feb. 5) recognized assistant district attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman for the prosecution of an Avondale man who was convicted last year of a double murder in Kenner.

Rushton and Schiffman were presented 2019 Excellence in Law Enforcement awards during the commission’s annual meeting and awards luncheon, held at the Sheraton in downtown New Orleans.

A Jefferson Parish jury in January 2018 convicted Shaun Barnett of two counts of first-degree murder for the April 4, 2016 deaths of Dawn Scott, 28, and Raynell Kimbrough, 31. The couple was in bed in their Kenner home early on the morning of April 4, 2016, when Barnett shot them. A child in the house heard the gunfire and escorted his younger brother outside; police found an uninjured infant on the bed next to Scott.

Barnett has been sentenced to life in prison.

Louisiana State Police investigator Leland “Corky” Dwight, Kenner Police Department Detective Harold P. Pendergast, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dennis Thornton and the JPSO Crime Laboratory staff also received the award for their work in solving the double-murder.

The commission presents the awards in recognition of those who “performed extraordinary service” to criminal justice. The awardees have “a record of continuity and consistency of service and shall reflect the admirable quality of integrity, both personal and professional.”

Adam Littleton sentenced to life for Jasilas Wright’s I-10 death

Adam Littleton was sentenced Thursday (Nov. 9) to a mandatory life sentence in prison, for his criminal culpability in causing the death of a woman who was fatally struck by vehicles on Interstate 10 in Metairie after she leapt from his moving car in trying to escape him.

Littleton, 26, a Mississippi native, was convicted as charged this summer of second-degree murder in the June 10, 2015, death of Jasilas Wright, 19.

According to evidence presented at trial, Wright met Littleton through her job as a dancer at Bourbon Street night clubs. In May 2015, she traveled with Littleton to Texas, where she engaged in prostitution. Littleton benefited financially from her prostitution.

On the morning she died, Wright and Littleton argued in the French Quarter before he forced her into his car with him, according to a witness.

However, unwilling to travel to Texas again, Wright jumped from Littleton’s car in the westbound lanes of I-10 near the Veterans Memorial Boulevard overpass. She was fatally struck by vehicles.

According to additional evidence presented at trial, Littleton witnessed Wright being struck by vehicles and yet continued driving to Texas. He never notified police.

He did speak with Wright’s family on the telephone, telling them only that she jumped from his car. He hung up and never spoke with them again.

Knowing that warrants for his arrest were pending in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans, Littleton surrendered to authorities in Shreveport.

Littleton was prosecuted under the felony-murder doctrine. Prosecutors alleged that he was engaged in the crime of second-degree kidnapping when Wright died, and as such, he was legally responsible for her death.

Following the conviction, Littleton’s defense counsel sought a new trial, citing numerous complaints. The defense argued, among other things, that prosecutors withheld information about a key witness’s criminal history.

After hearing argument, reading numerous briefs and listening to a recording of the key witness’s trial testimony, Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court ruled he found “no merit” to the defense assertions.

Judge Faulkner then sentenced Littleton to the mandatory life sentence.

The Louisiana State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and New Orleans Police Department investigated the homicide.

Assistant District Attorneys Kellie Rish and Megan Gorman prosecuted the case.

Grand Isle resident sentenced to 26 years in child abuse case

A former Grand Isle resident was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison Tuesday (Sept. 19), after he admitted he sought to pay $400 to have sex with a 6- to 7-year-old girl in his home on the barrier island.

Wade Perkins III, 32, pleaded guilty as charged to attempted first-degree rape and four counts of possession of images depicting the sexual abuse of children. Perkins already was a convicted sex-offender, having been convicted in 2006 of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in his native Michigan.

Agents with the Louisiana State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Houma office, arrested Perkins on April 28, 2016, during an investigation triggered by a tip on Perkins’ seeking sex with juvenile girls.

In accepting the guilty pleas, Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Perkins to 25 years in prison for each of the five counts and ran them concurrently. Perkins then pleaded guilty to being a double offender, given his prior conviction of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Romulus, Mich.

Perkin was resentenced to 26 years and four months in prison as a two-time felon under Louisiana’s habitual offender law. He does not get benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He also faces a lifetime of sex offender registration.

Perkins also faces similar charges in Michigan.

Assistant District Attorneys Emily Booth and Douglas Rushton prosecuted the case.

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Adam Littleton guilty of murder in I-10 death of Jasilas Wright

Adam Littleton, a Mississippi native, was found criminally responsible on Friday (July 28) for the death of a woman who attempted to escape his vehicle after being kidnapped by jumping from his car on Interstate 10 in Metairie.

Littleton, 25, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder in the June 10, 2015, death of Jasilas Wright, 19. According to testimony at trial, Wright met Littleton in connection with her job as a dancer at Bourbon Street nightclubs.

Littleton was prosecuted under the felony-murder doctrine. Shortly before Wright died, she and Littleton got into an altercation in the French Quarter. Littleton roughed up her to get her into his car, and they drove toward Metairie on I-10. As Wright died during the commission of a second-degree kidnapping, Littleton was found to be legally responsible for her death.

The month before her death, Wright went with Littleton and another woman to Texas for prostitution, a decision she regretted after he initially abandoned her there without money, she told family and friends in New Orleans in emotional phone calls, jurors heard this week in testimony.

Wright sought to distance herself from Littleton and the lifestyle, said Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish, who prosecuted Littleton with Megan Gorman. “Jasilas was on the highway of human trafficking,” Rish told jurors. “She was looking for her exit.”

Shortly before her death, Littleton and Wright argued on Bourbon Street before he forced her into his car to drive her to Texas. Unwilling to go, Wright leapt from Littleton’s car in the I-10 westbound lanes where the interstate crosses over Veterans Memorial Boulevard. Several vehicles struck her and ran over her body numerous times. Many motorists called 911. But Littleton, who witnessed Wright being struck by cars, continued to Texas.

“What does Adam do? Nothing, because he knows he’s to blame,” Rish told jurors. “He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t call police.”

Wright suffered “massive trauma,” her death caused by “multiple blunt-force trauma,” forensic pathologist Dr. Marianne Eserman testified of her autopsy results.

After collecting personal items from the I-10 lanes and shoulders, the Louisiana State Police identified Wright as the victim, according to testimony. The items included Wright’s cell phone, a key piece of evidence, according to State Police.

Littleton spoke with Wright’s family on the phone, telling them that Wright jumped out of his car. He hung up, and they could never contact him again.

With warrants for his arrest issued in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, Littleton surrendered to police in Shreveport. In addition to the State Police, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the New Orleans Police Department were involved in the investigation.

Littleton faces spending the rest of his life in prison, at hard labor and with no chance of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Littleton on Aug. 22.

 

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Metairie man nabbed in heroin distribution case convicted of narcotics, firearms offenses

A Metairie man who sold heroin to an undercover informant in New Orleans during a multi-jurisdictional investigation that led to Jefferson Parish was convicted Thursday night (Jan. 19) of possessing and distributing the illegal narcotic and of illegally possessing four firearms.

Julius Hankton, 27, is guilty of possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of oxycodone and four counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated for 40 minutes before unanimously convicting him as charged of all counts. Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court set Hankton’s sentencing for Feb. 17.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation New Orleans Violent Crime Task Force investigated Hankton beginning in 2014, using an undercover informant to purchase small quantities of heroin on four occasions, according to testimony. The task force comprises members of the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, including the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Louisiana State Police.

Hankton, who lived in New Orleans when the investigation began, moved into an apartment with his girlfriend in the 1600 block of Clearview Parkway. As such, task force members obtained a warrant from a Jefferson Parish magistrate commissioner to search the apartment.

About 6 a.m., on March 19, 2015, FBI SWAT members and sheriff’s deputies served the warrant, surprising Hankton, his 4-year-old son and his girlfriend as they slept.

During the search agents found more than 21 grams of heroin, eight tablets of oxycodone and the firearms. They also seized more than $20,000 in cash.

The firearms included a fully loaded 9mm pistol with extended magazine, which was set on a dresser, a 10mm pistol on the floor next to his bed, a .45-caliber pistol found in the dresser drawer and a fully loaded AK-47 assault rifle in a duffle bag under the bed.

Hankton is barred from possessing firearms because of his prior convictions in New Orleans of aggravated battery, possession of cocaine, carrying a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and illegal possession of stolen firearms.

Hankton, who did not testify, denied the crimes. His attorneys argued there was no evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the drugs and guns belonged to him.

Assistant District Attorneys Andrew DeCoste and Douglas Rushton prosecuted the case.

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New Orleans scrap yard owner pleads guilty, gets 10 years in auto theft racketeering case

Hours after he was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday morning (June 30), the co-owner of a New Orleans scrap yard pleaded guilty to participating in an alleged criminal enterprise whose members were responsible for almost one-third of the auto thefts in Jefferson Parish in recent years.

Harry J. Sorrell, 48, of Slidell, pleaded guilty as charged to racketeering and conspiracy to commit theft, for crimes occurring between 2009 and this year. Sorrell then pleaded guilty to being a double offender under Louisiana’s habitual offender law, because of a 2008 conviction of a federal weapons offense.

Judge Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court, who accepted the pleas on Thursday afternoon, sentenced Sorrell to 10 years in prison as a second felony offender. Sorrell then was remanded into state custody to begin the sentence.

According to the superseding indictment, Sorrell, who also uses the name Harry Sporrell, owned and operated a scrap yard with an unindicted co-conspirator. Vehicles that were stolen by enterprise members were transported to the scrap yard to be crushed. By crushing the vehicles, the enterprise members eliminated evidence and gained another source of revenue through the sale of scrap metal, according to the indictment.

Enterprise members additionally filed fraudulent insurance claims seeking compensation from insurance companies, after members of the enterprise alleged their involvement in staged automobile accidents.

On May 5, a Jefferson Parish grand jury handed up an indictment charging 13 people in connection with the racketeering case. Sorrell was listed as unindicted co-conspirator “A” in that bill of indictment. On Thursday, a grand jury handed up a superseding bill of indictment, adding Sorrell and two other men to the list of defendants who were previously charged.

Authorities say approximately 32 percent of all vehicle thefts in Jefferson Parish in 2014 and 2015 were tied to the group of men. The thefts, most involving trucks, amounted to at least $2.5 million in economic loss to Jefferson Parish, according to the bill of indictment.

While the grand jury met Thursday morning, Patrick Robinson Jr., 49, of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy to commit theft, 11 counts of theft, two counts of illegal possession of stolen things and altering vehicle identification numbers.

Robinson was among the 13 people who were charged on May 5. Judge Adams is scheduled to sentence Robinson on Sept. 19.

Sorrell’s and Robinson’s pleas on Thursday bring to six the number of defendants who have admitted guilt in the racketeering case.

Ronnel A. Kyles, 29, received a 10-year prison sentence. Jimmie “Black” James, 28, of New Orleans, is scheduled to be sentenced in September. Jason Mercadel, 38, of New Orleans, was sentenced to 15 years in prison; and Brandon Lane, 29, of Marrero, received a 10-year sentence.

Others named in the indictment are Parrish Norris, 41; Oliver D. Green, 46; Patrick N. Robinson III, 28, whose father is the Robinson who pleaded guilty on Thursday; Cardell E. Torrence, 39; Kevin A. Martin, 29; Brandon P. Evans, 30; Keith A. Nero, 29; Shon R. Claiborne, 27; and Ronald J. Johnson, 29. Norrish remains at large and led police in New Orleans on a high-speed chase after he was indicted on May 5.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Unit and the Louisiana State Police investigated the cases.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese, Thomas Sanderson and Lindsay Truhe are prosecuting the cases.

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